Power tools are commonly used across all aspects of industry. Power tools are employed for multiple applications including, for example, drilling, tightening, sanding, and/or the like. Handheld power tools are often preferred, or even required, for jobs that require a high degree of freedom of movement or access to certain difficult to reach objects.
In some contexts, various operations are conducted by humans or machines using power tools as part of a comprehensive assembly process. For example, power tools may be employed to tighten fasteners at various locations along an assembly line for assembling engine parts. These assembly processes may include tightening operations that must be performed in specific orders and/or to specific specifications. Invariably, when humans conduct these operations in a repetitive fashion, some tightening operations may be conducted out of order or to the wrong torque specification.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to improve the ability of a vision system to identify specific locations on an object and allow a tool to be applied to such locations (e.g., for tightening). However, because the assembly line environment presents a moving target, and because the object may need to be operated upon from various different directions, such an improved vision system can be extremely complex to realize.